Southampton's disastrous on-the-road form in London Division 4 South-West continued as they lost at previously winless Cranleigh. The Surrey side now move off the bottom where they are replaced by Trojans.

Tony Cador's side endured an annoyingly frustrating day which was not made any better by the news that they have been docked two points for fielding an unregistered player, Rob Richards, at Petersfield last month.

After being held up in Guildford traffic on the way to the Surrey countryside, their first-half performance matched their mood with only Cador's first try breaking the gloom. The skipper added a second to close the gap, but Paul Brant's score came too late.

"The first half was awful apart from a good five-minute spell," mused fly-half Dave Griffiths. "We had too much left to do after that."

Cador agreed. "We just cannot travel," he added. "Games like that you have to win, but it was a bad day with the traffic and everything else. But there is no doom and gloom at the club, just everything we tried didn't work."

Petersfield swapped places with their opponents London Irish Amateur as the Sunbury-based club won 16-6, while US Portsmouth have been drawn into the bottom half by going down 25-10 at Old Emanuel.

The rain was even worse in the West Country, as Havant found out to their cost as they suffered at Weston-Super-Mare 16-5, with just a Nick Whittle try for comfort.

It was a dour struggle in highly unpleasant conditions that neither side enjoyed as Weston struck two penalties in the first half before Havant got off the mark.

As the pitch became more sodden, the game degenerated into a mud-lark and scrappy battle. Both sides seemed relieved to hear the final whistle.

Basingstoke's 34-10 reverse at far-away North Walsham was not exactly a fair reflection on the game, described coach Ian Calder, who took many positives from the performance in Norfolk, especially as the hosts expected a romp in the park.

Calder said it was: "A big step up in quality and was probably the best we have played this season."

Fraser Jones scored his sixth try in seven games, while Calder posted the rest of the points for the Down Grange side, who remain in mid-table.